Vienna

Vienna

Because of massive traffic delays, we missed out on visiting the Schnapps Museum and the Swarovski store the first day in Vienna. Because Vienna is still quite a religious city, most shops are closed on Sunday so we missed out on discounted crystal, but the museum is open so that was just pushed back a day. We arrived at the Pyramid Hotel, on the very outskirts of the city. The hotel was nice, it even was the first one we visited that had a pool available, though I didn’t get to swim.

We only had an hour before it was time to head out into the iconic city. Our destination, a Mozart Orchestral live performance in the same hall he performed when he was just 6 years old. Now I like classical music a little bit more than the average Australian but wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it. I thoroughly was impressed by the performance, hearing it live and seeing each instrument played in such a historical building was quite awesome. They also managed to keep it fresh, with surprise opera singers disguised in the audience, ballet dancing and more.

Afterwards we had a lovely meal in another traditional building. We had schnitzel and strudel, as well as a chicken soup entree. Once the meal was over, the group was divided over what to do next, a third of the group wanted to return to the hotel and drink at the bar, a third wanted to go to the clubs and the rest wanted to stay at the film festival that was on right outside the restaurant. I was in the latter group, which was overruled by the first, with only five or so hitting the nightlife.

At the hotel, we had a beer or two at the bar, before a subsection of us played the card game Bullshit!. The loser of each round had to take a shot of this disgusting schnapps/vodka SP had purchased earlier for 8 Euro, it was beyond foul. After playing beyond midnight, it was time to call it a night, however I stayed up to FaceTime. Because Colin and I got the one room that had no Wifi reception in our room, I had to create a makeshift bed by the door to get a connection.

In the morning it was time for a buffet breakfast before heading into the city again. We drove by some sights and then was dropped off to explore the city. We only had an hour so it was a frantic race to get Euros out of an ATM, exchange them to Českÿch Korun for when we go to the Republic of Czech and grab some food. We had an hour total, but we actually took an hour and fifteen as we stopped at Starbucks to scratch my addiction. Because we were so late, we had to sprint to get the bus as they would certainly leave without us. Just yesterday, four people were late and the coach left without them, resulting with a 50 Euro taxi fare to meet up. I was disappointed that we couldn’t spend more time here, there was a Sigmund Freud and a Natural History museum I really wanted to check out.

Our next destination was a schnaps (with one p) museum tour. I wasn’t sure how interesting it would be or if it would be a glorified bar. For just 9 Euors I want expecting much, as that price included ‘3’ free schnap drinks. It was awesome! The guy was hilarious, Austrians have a great sense of humour. We heard how Vienna was safe from bombings, until the last month of World War II, where they had targeted the railway, which is where the schnaps factory was for easy access to the fruit that would arrive by train.

Luckily, not everything was destroyed, and there were some neat artefacts from over a hundred years ago. The museum curator (who is a member of the family that owns it) then took us to a room where he explained the different types of liqueurs and alcohol available. We then got to try the many different flavours available. We were meant to have only three but no one was counting, Measles (Colin) had seven.

After I tried a shot, I purchased a bottle of absinthe that is 60% alcohol and has a high concentration of wormwood. I learnt how to pour it through a sugar cube (complete with strainer) and light it on fire. We will be drinking it at my European party, having one is compulsory. I also got a few gifts for people back home and then back on the bus to our next destination.